A lifeline for business

The following was posted on the Stargazette.com editorial page.

State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith’s advice was simple but sensible. In Binghamton last week, she urged businesses, despite the deepening recession, not to retrench.

“It’s not easy advice to follow with profit margins sliding from low to lower, but the survival strategy she recommended is worth heeding.”

In a visit to the Broome-Tioga Workforce New York on July 1, she reminded businesses of three key federal and state programs that struggling businesses can lean on to loosen the recession’s chokehold on their bottom line.

One is the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credits for new employees who fall into one of nine classifications, including people who have received public assistance, served in the armed forces or are 16- and 17-year-olds looking for summer work.

Another is called Building Skills in New York State, a training program for businesses with at least four workers that could provide as much as $50,000 to improve skills for those already on the job. The $5 million set aside for the program comes partly through President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act approved by Congress this year.

A third is the Shared Work Program through the state that aims to keep employees on the payroll part time rather than be laid off. Employees get partial jobless benefits, and employers get to keep good workers on board, presumably until the recession lets up so they can return to full-time status. In 2008, 462 companies in New York state enlisted in the Shared Work program, according to the state Department of Labor, keeping 14,775 workers on the job.”

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